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Good News/Bad News

In this section, Lives in the Balance keeps you up-to-date on breaking news about how behaviorally challenging kids are being understood and treated, especially in schools and restrictive therapeutic facilities (stories with asterisks were brought to our attention by Lives in the Balance activists). While it's mostly the bad news that makes the headlines, lots of good work is being done by many people in many places on behalf of behaviorally challenging kids and their caregivers. The bad news just tells us there's more work to be done.

CURRENTLY IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

Kids in Cuffs: Why Handcuff a Student With a DisabilityNBC NewsHannah Rappleye, Brenda Breslauer, Stephanie Gosk And Kenzi Abou-SabeComprehensive article looking at police in schools, criminalizing adolescent behavior, and statistics on school discipline from around the country. The article includes easy graphics to see how your state and school district compare to national averages.

Your Child’s Been Sent to Jail. And Then Comes the Bill.Washington PostEli HagerAnalyzes a troubling trend of charging parents for the incarceration of their children. “Today, mothers and fathers are billed for their children’s incarceration — in jails, detention centers, court-ordered treatment facilities, training schools or disciplinary camps — by 19 state juvenile-justice agencies, while in at least 28 other states, individual counties can legally do the same, a survey by the Marshall Project shows.”

SCHOOLS IN THE NEWS:

March 18, 2018Why are black students punished so often? Minnesota confronts a national quandary...READ the story from the New York Times.

November 6, 2017New data reveal 250 preschoolers are suspended or expelled every day...READ the story from Center for American Progress.

October 31, 2017How can we stem the school-to-prison pipeline?...READ the story from CITYLAB.

October 14, 2017Judge rules Kentucky county liable for handcuffed children...READ the story from the New York Times.

October 4, 2017UAE bans detentions, downgrading, and mockery as forms of school discipline...READ the article from Arab News.

September 19, 2017Mother demands answers after son, 8, put in restraints and injected on first day of school...READ the article from CBC News.

September 2, 2017Don't suspend students. Empathize...READ the article from the New York Times.

February 24, 2017Mississauga mom launches complaint after police handcuff her 6-year old daughter...READ the story from CBC News.

September 21, 2016Our View: To stop cyle of failure, help Maine's youngest learners...READ the column from Portland Press Herald.

So long as caregivers are solely focused on modifying a child's behavior, the problems that are causing that behavior will remain unsolved. But when caregivers focus instead on solving the problems -- collaboratively and proactively -- not only do the problems get solved, the challenging behaviors that are associated with those problems subside.-Dr. Ross Greene